When I’ve mentioned the Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA) to teachers I’ve met, writes Alexandra Reed, Senior Digital Marketing Executive at CLA, they tend to have one of two reactions.

They’re either nervous, fearing that CLA are the copyright police who are about to reprimand them for wrongful copying, or, they withdraw immediately, believing that copyright is a complicated legal doctrine that they simply don’t have time to manage on top of all their teaching responsibilities. There is more of a need than ever for teachers to understand the balance between the needs of teachers as users of content, but also the needs of the creators. And that’s where CLA is here to help.

Who are CLA?

CLA is a not-for-profit licensing body, which means we manage blanket copyright licences that cover all kinds of organisations to make copies from published material. Once CLA’s running costs are deducted, money made from the sale of these licences is paid back to authors, publishers and visual artists as royalties, allowing them to make a living from their work and continue creating the fantastic resources that teachers use in the classroom every day. Without fair payment for the use of their work, it simply wouldn’t be possible for creators to continue producing classroom materials.

What do CLA do?

CLA has made it their mission to make copyright simple and the copyright licence provides an ideal way for schools to easily manage their copyright risk, and here’s something you might be pleasantly surprised to discover. All state maintained schools and academies in the UK hold a CLA Education Licence, provided via central licensing agreements that CLA holds with regional education departments. The licence is also available to purchase for independent schools.

So, you already have a copyright licence, but do you know how to use it? And are you making the most of it?

3 things you need to know

Unfortunately, there isn’t widespread knowledge about CLA and the licence amongst teachers – understandable when one considers how jam-packed teacher training courses and CPD sessions are – but this does mean that teachers aren’t always conscious of their legal obligations or how they can use the licence to make the most of their resources – and reduce that ever growing workload.

Here are 3 simple things you should know:

You can copy extracts from 1000s of titles covered under your Licence, including books, magazines and certain websites

The Licence covers you to copy in all kinds of ways, not just photocopying – you can also scan and make digital copies

Re:source blog

Alexandra Reed, Senior Digital Marketing Executive at CLA

CLA are trying to show teachers exactly what they can do with different types of content. Recently, we launched the re:source blog that aims to show teachers how the licence is more than just a means to photocopy, how they can reinvent their teaching materials, discover new types of material for classroom use, and share their best ideas and tips.

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Holly Gardner

Holly Gardner is TT Editor, as well as a Freelance Book Publisher and TEFL teacher. She has been working with @TeacherToolkit for 5 years - since she published his first book in her role as Senior Commissioning Editor at Bloomsbury Publishing. Since then, she left her day job, moved to Madrid and trained as an English teacher. She is now a key member of the TT team, continues to teach english and edit books, and also spends her time learning spanish and searching for the best tortilla de patata! You can follow her at @HollyEditTeach.